xacro_to_urdf

A small utility to compile a xacro file (e.g., from a ROS package) into a URDF. This is a wrapper around xacrodoc. This utility does NOT require ROS to be installed.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd <repository_name>

2. Install the required Python packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

The script can be run with the following command:

python xacro_to_urdf.py --package_dir <package_dir> \
                        --xacro_file <xacro_file> \
                        --output_urdf_file <urdf_file> \
                        [--resolve_paths <true|false>] \
                        [--args '{"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"}']

Parameters

• --package_dir (str): Directory of the package containing the xacro file.
• --xacro_file (str): Relative path to the xacro file within the package directory.
• --output_urdf_file (str): Path to the output URDF file.
• --resolve_paths (bool, optional): Whether to replace package:// paths with absolute paths. Defaults to false.
• --args (str, optional): Extra arguments for Xacro parsing in JSON format (e.g., '{"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"}').

Example

python xacro_to_urdf.py --package_dir kortex_description  \
--xacro_file robots/gen3.xacro   \
--output_urdf_file  gen3.urdf  \
--args '{"arm": "gen3", "dof": "7", "gripper": "robotiq_2f_85", "vision": "true", "sim": "false", "prefix": ""}'

Features

1. Automatic package.xml creation: If a package.xml file is missing in the package directory, the script generates a minimal one based on the package directory name.
2. Xacro processing: The script uses the xacrodoc library to convert the xacro file into a URDF.
3. Flexible path handling: Replace package:// paths with absolute paths if required.
4. Customizable Xacro arguments: Pass additional parameters for Xacro file parsing using the --args option.

Requirements

• The dependencies listed in requirements.txt

Notes

• Ensure the xacro_file path is relative to the package_dir.

• If package.xml is missing, it will be auto-generated with minimal content:

  <package>
    <name>{package_name}</name>
  </package>